Transcript Andrew Goes to Taiwan

Andrew Robinson Goes to
Taiwan
By:
Janessa Hunter, Bo Lee, Nina Tsoi, Kane
Wong, and Denise Yee
IBUS 818
Professor Yang
Spring 2005
Case #6
Case Overview
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Case Background
Expatriate Performance
Australia
Taiwan
Compensation/Training
Elements for Successful Expatriation and
Repatriation
Conclusion
Case Background
Telequip is a multinational telecommunications
equipment supplier in Sydney, Australia
 They sell their first “world” product to Taicom, a
company in Taipei, Taiwan
 The equipment is estimated to take 6 months to
set up the equipment with software programmers
working from Sydney, one flying to Taipei and
TCNs from India will also be brought in to work
on the set up
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Case Background
Andrew Robinson: experienced
software programmer at
Telequip in Sydney, Australia.
November
Andrew is
sent to Taipei
for 4 weeks
Has to
personal credit
card and max
it out = very
upset wife
January
February
 Andrew returns to Australia
 Buys home with wife
 Andrew is asked to take
short term assignment in
Taipei
 Negotiates short term
expatriate contract with
Telequip Australia
March - June
 Andrew is rushed to
Taipei
 Expected to find
apartment and work
24/7
 Wife has to move into
new home alone
 Found an apartment
 Started learning
Chinese on his own
Case Background (cont)
June
 Andrew goes home for 10 days  Project and company
 Wife has a million things for him morale
to
is low
do
 Team members sent to
 Personnel at Telequip tell him thatdifferent divisions of
the need to scale back his expatriate
Telequip
allowances and that he may need to
 Telequip Australia
pay tax in Taiwan
change to a domestic
rather than international
focus
July - August
Mid-August
 Andrew goes back to
Taipei
 Australian work colleagues
still detached from culture
and country
 Taicom very dissatisfied
with product
 Taicom cancels project
 Andrew flies back to
Sydney
Expatriate Failure
Taicom cancelled the project
 Premature return
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Costs of Failure
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Direct Costs
– Airfares
– Salaries
– Relocation expenses
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Indirect Costs
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Loss of market share
Damaged relationships with customers
Strained relationship with wife
Low morale among the staff
Loss of opportunity for international expansion
Factors Moderating Performance
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Length of Assignment
– 2 month stay turned into a 4 month
assignment
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Willingness to Move
– Reluctant to continue because of increased
tensions with his wife
Factors Moderating Performance
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Work-Environment Related Factors
– Poor planning and execution of expatriate
assignment
– Poor communication between the offices
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Employment Relationships
– Relational contract
– Transactional contract
Australia
Area:
7,686,850 sq km
Population: 19,169,083
Language: English, native
languages
Ethnic Groups:
–Caucasian 92%
–Asian 7%
–Aboriginal and other 1%
Religion:
–Anglican 26.1%
–Roman Catholic 26%
–Other Christian 24.3%
–Non-Christian 11%
Government: Democratic
Australia
GDP: US $528 billion
GDP per capita: US$27,000
Annual growth: 3.6%
Inflation: 1.8%
Major Industries: mining,
industrial and transportation
equipment, food processing,
chemicals, and steel.
Major trading partners: Japan,
EU, ASEAN, US, South Korea,
NZ, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and
China.
Cultural Norms-Dress
Men wear a conservative dark business
suit and tie.
 Women may wear a dress, or skirt and
blouse, for business.
 Informal clothing is appropriate when not
attending business functions.
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Cultural Norms- Behavior
Being punctual is critical.
 Good eye contact during meetings and
conversations.
 Gift giving is not a common practice in
business.
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Cultural Norms- Communications
Shake hands when meeting and when
leaving.
 Australians are friendly and open, but
directness and brevity are valued.
 Opinions are respected, and opinionated
discussions are entertaining.
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Hofstede Analysis
Uncertainty
Avoidance
Power Distance
Individualism
Australia
36
90
51
61
31
United
States
40
91
51
62
29
Taiwan
58
17
69
45
87
China
Masculinity
Long-term
Orientation
Country
118
Taiwan
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Full country name: Republic of China
(ROC)
Area: 35,563 sq km
Population: 22.89 million
Language: Mandarin
Ethnic groups:
– 84% Taiwanese (including Hakka)
– 14% mainland Chinese
– 2% aborigine
Religion:
– 93% mixture of Buddhist, Confucian,
and Taoist
– 4.5% Christian
– 2.5% Other
Government: Multiparty democracy
Taiwan
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GDP: US$247 billion
GDP per capita: US$16,100
Annual growth: 4.8%
Inflation: 3.1%
Major Industries: Machinery, electrical
equipment, electronic/computer
goods, textile, iron and steel
Major trading partners: USA, Japan,
China (including Hong Kong), South
Korea
Taiwan ICT Sector
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Information and Communications (ICT) in
Taiwan
– Production exceeds A$80 billion
– Over 70% of ICT companies in China have
Taiwanese investments
Australia and Taiwan
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Taiwan is Australia’s 8th largest trading partner
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Taiwan joined the WTO in January 2002
– More trade between Australia and Taiwan
– ICT investments grew
 Eg. Taiwan Telecommunications Group invested A$15 million
into Australia for new headquarters and R&D center
Taiwan History
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Taiwan had changed hand numerous times (Portugese, Spaniards,
Dutch, Japanese, Chinese)
Heavily influenced by China
– Heavy Chinese immigration started during Ming dynasty when Manchus
kicked the Dutch out 1660s
– Most recent migration in 1949 when communist took over Mainland
China
– General Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalist Party, Kuomintang (KMT)
was overthrown
– Over 1.5 million Chinese migrated to Taiwan
Mainland China vs. Taiwan
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Mainland China (PRC) and Taiwan (ROC) both claim to
be the legitimate China
International community generally recognize the PRC as
“official” China
PRC and ROC presently still have tension
– PRC: Views ROC as “renegade” state and seeks reunification
– ROC: Views Taiwan as “independent” country
Conversation Topics in
Taiwan
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Topics to avoid
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Avoid topics about mainland China
Communism
Any local politics
Politics in general
Neutral topics
– Expatriates experience in Taiwan
– Expatriates home country
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Good topics
– Baseball
– Family
Other Cultural Differences
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Taiwanese like to start conversation with “small talk”
Taiwanese may ask personal questions
– “How much is your salary”
– “How much did that cost?”
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When given a compliment try to be modest and not
directly acknowledge it
People stay out really late at bars, nightclubs, and
restaurants
– Try not to schedule early meetings
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Napping between 1:30pm and 2:00pm is sometimes
practiced
– Try not to schedule meetings at 2pm since counterpart may be sleepy
Gift Giving
Exchanging gifts is common practice in Taiwan
 Gifts may be presented on first meeting, so be prepared
 Chinese custom to decline gift 3 times before accepting
 Gift should be received in both hands facing upwards
 Don’t open gift in front of giver
 Gifts and wrappings in red, pink, and yellow are good
 Avoid wrappings in black and white
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Gift Giving
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Good gifts
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Items with your company logo
Imported liquor
Gold pens
Magazine subscription
Perfume
Anything “high-tech”
Anything related to baseball
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Bad gifts
– Items made in Taiwan
– Knives, scissors, or any cutting tool
 Suggests severing friendship or close
bond
– Anything associated with funeral
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Gift wrap in white, black , or blue
Clocks
Towels
Handkerchiefs
Straw sandals
Dress Code
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Professional, conservative is always best choice
Avoid wearing black, or white
Men should wear dark, conservative suit and tie
Women should wear business suits, conservative skirts and blouses,
or dresses
– Modesty is respected so women should stick with less revealing clothing
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Taiwan has a “hot season” from May – October
– Prepare light weight clothing
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Casual wear should be modest
– Shorts are considered appropriate only for young people
Andrew’s Compensation
Package
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Initial Visit
– Andrew used his personal card
and submitted an expense
report upon his return
 While in Taipei the card maxed and
his wife had to use cash until his
return
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First Short Term
Assignment
– Offered financial incentive to
take assignment
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Receive salary from Telequip Australia
Additional daily per diem – Andrew
would still use his credit card and get a
monthly reimbursement
Compensation (cont)
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Second Short Term
Assignment
– Telequip Australia told
Andrew the per diem
allowance was much higher
then normal guidelines and
it would scaled back
– Told Andrew it was his job
to check on his tax liability
in Taipei
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Taxation Approach
– Telequip Australia used
the laissez-faire
approach to expatriate
taxation
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Telequip should have:
– Used the knowledge of
the Telequip office in
Taiwan to develop a
Tax Equalization
approach
Housing in Taipei
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Andrew wanted to
move into an
apartment for his
short term
assignment
– Apartments hard to
find in English
– Hard to find shorter
than one year lease
– No help from Telequip
to find an agent
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Telequip should have
– Offered corporate
housing
– Real estate agents
– General housing info
should have been
shared:
Source: www.kojenenglish.com
 Apartments 1/3 smaller
in Taipei
 No ovens
 Mostly 2 or 3 bdr places
Language and Culture Training
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Telequip should have
– Used the affective training
approach
 Since Andrew was sent to
Taipei last minute training
in Taipei should have been
offered to all Telequip staff
going to Taipei
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A large reason Telequip
was unsuccessful with
Taicom was due to the
lack of:
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Communication
Cooperation
Cultural understanding
Mandarin speaking team
members
Listing of Language and Cultural
programs in Taipei
•Mandarin Training Centre (National
Taiwan Normal University)
•Mandarin Studies Program (National
Chengchi University)
•Mandarin Learning Centre (Chinese
Culture University)
•Chinese Language Program (Tamkang
University)
•Fo Guang University - Chinese
Language Instruction Centre
•Feng Chia University Language Center
•The Language Center of Fu Jen
Catholic University
•Taipei Language Institute (TLI)
•China Language Institute
Source: http://taiwan.8m.net/study.html#schools
Expatriation & Repatriation
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Elements for a successful expatriation and
repatriation
– Role of family
– Cross-cultural perspectives on managing
diversity
– Performance appraisal in organization control
– Health and Security
Role of Family
Difference in culture view of work-family
relationships
 Family Impact on expatriate adaptation,
performance, and retention
 Family conflict
 IHRM policies and support services
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Cross-Cultural Perspective on
Managing Diversity
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Communication
– Between expatriates
– Between home-country headquarter and host
country
– With host country workers
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IHRM policies and support services
Performance Appraisal in
Organization Control
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Improving performance appraisal system
– Goal setting
– Measurement validity
– Feedback
Health & Security
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Health issues
– Weather/climate
– Food
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Security
– Natural disaster
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IHRM policies and support service
Presentation Summary
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We have analyzed the case background and expatriate
performance (a failure expatriation experience).
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We compared the two distinctive countries, Australia
and Taiwan in perspectives of their culture, economic
system, social and political behaviors.
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We looked at the expatriate compensation package
and other costs associated to the expatriation.
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We examined the elements that impact the success of
expatriation: role of family, managing diversity,
performance appraisal, health and security.
Thank You!
Questions?